Celestial Chronicles 04: Legend's End
by MartyCessna
Summary: A mysterious legend from the Galactica's past returns from the blackness of space, pitting Celeste against a fear she had hoped never to face.
1. Chapter 1

Celeste sat up in bed. No, it wasn't her bed. It was a couch. Someone's couch. Apollo's couch.

"Frack!" She checked her chronometer, "double frack with a side of felgercarb! I'm late!" She stood up and grabbed her flight jacket. As she headed for the door, a thought crossed her mind.

_What was I doing in Apollo's quarters?_

Another thought crossed her mind. The memory of ambrosia flitted to her. A lot of ambrosia. And being carried…somewhere…by someone strong and hilariously funny, though she couldn't remember why he was so funny.

_Apollo. He probably just wanted to keep an eye on me. Not that I blame him. I was really out of it. Hope I didn't do anything I'll regret later._

Stepping into the bright lights of the hall, she realized that she very much regretted getting drunk.

_What a hangover. I think I should swear off parties for a while. _

She giggled, thinking about the last few she'd been to, then regretted the giggling because it joggled her already swimmy brain.

Dizzy and groggy and seized with a horrendous headache, Celeste groped her way back into Apollo's couch. From his corner, Muffit II watched her flop in and not move. He whined a little, but she was still breathing so he returned to guard mode.

Suddenly she jumped upright, "What if the guys find out where I spent the night?"

Muffit whined again, but this time it sounded more like a groan.

"You're right," Celeste flopped, groaning, herself, with the headache, "my reputation's pretty much shot by now anyway."

Muffit monitored her breathing as it became more and more relaxed, so he settled in once more.

"Hey!" she opened her eyes, "That means I could do whatever I wanted and it wouldn't matter!"

Muffit rotated his ears and yapped.

"Yeah, I sort of do that already." She sighed. By now her head was really throbbing, but it was the drowsiness that was really bothering her.

She and Muffit both quieted down, finally.

As if on cue, the _Galactica _shift-change bell rang, shrill and clear, throughout each room and the halls outside them.

Celeste pulled a throw pillow over her head, groaning.

The lights flipped on, and Captain Apollo rushed out of his room, fully dressed and ready to go.

"Aggh!" Celeste reacted to the lights, hurling the throw pillow, "Off! Off!"

"Whow!" Apollo was hit square in the face.

Celeste sat up quickly, ignoring the swirling in her head, "Captain! I ah, didn't see you!"

Apollo picked up the pillow; "You have really good aim for someone who couldn't see."

"Thanks!" she squinted and grinned weakly.

The captain gave her a glance, "I'm not sure that was a compliment."

"Hey," Celeste shrugged, "I'll take what I can get."

Apollo threw the pillow back at her, "You're crazy, you know that?"

She caught it and grinned, tossing it back playfully. Apollo ducked this time and it hit Muffit just as Boxey came out from the bedroom.

"Miss Celeste, Muffy can't pillow fight!" the boy informed her, "He doesn't have hands." Then he looked confused, "Why are you on our couch?"

"The floor was taken," Celeste indicated Muffit.

Boxey shook his head, "You're crazy, you know that?"

"So I've been told," Celeste gave Apollo a wry grin, wondering what the captain was telling his son about her. She stood up shakily, "Oooh," she flopped again, face into the couch. A muffled "Felgercarb" came from her direction.

Apollo shook his head at her, "You better stay there for a while, Lieutenant."

"But…" came the reply.

"Boxey'll look after you," Apollo smiled, "Right, Boxey?"

"Yes, Sir!" Boxey nodded enthusiastically.

"You see?" Apollo picked up the pillow for the second time, "You're in good hands." He carefully placed the pillow under her head.

_Very good hands. _Celeste thought, but not about Boxey. She mumbled her gratitude and wished she could wake up a little more.

"I'll be back before you know it." Apollo hesitated, and then leaned down to kiss her hair before leaving the room.

Boxey immediately went to the couch, "Okay, Miss Celeste! What do you want to do first?"

"Miss Celeste wants to sleep," she mumbled.

Boxey looked crestfallen, "Oh. I thought you were just pretending for Dad."

Celeste shook her head, but opted against using such a movement again until someday when the whirling cleared. Instead, she slowly moved her face out of the pillow.

"How about a game?" she suggested.

Boxey grinned, "Starbuck's been teaching me tricks in Pyramid!"

"Actually, I had something else in mind," Celeste pulled a handful of cubits out of her pocket and handed them to the boy, "Hide these all around the room, then have Muffy find them."

"That's too easy." Boxey shook his head.

"Here's the catch though," Celeste tried to smile mysteriously, "You have to do it with the lights off, and you also have to try not to wake the security system, which is me."

Boxey looked doubtful, but took the cubits, "Okay, we'll try it. What if I lose some?"

"That's okay," Celeste snuggled in, "I have plenty."

"Shall I start now?"

"Yes, now would be wonderful."

The lights turned off.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Apollo returned, Celeste had recovered.

"What's this?" he gestured to the golden mess strewn all over the room.

Boxey and Celeste looked up.

"It's a game," Celeste explained.

"And I invented it!" Boxey added, grinning proudly.

"You did?" Apollo grinned back, squatting down to see better. He looked at all the cubits scattered across the floor and furniture, "Did you invent a way to clean it up?"

"Oh yeah, no problem, Dad!" Boxey assured him.

"Good," Apollo smiled, tousled his son's hair, and turned to Celeste, "What about you?"

Celeste put a hand to her head, "No thanks, I already did my hair today."

Apollo nodded amusedly at her mussed and tangled hair, "I can see that." _Her hair's longer than it used to be. I hadn't even noticed she'd started growing it out. Looks nice like that. Even mussed. _He started helping Celeste and Boxey scoop cubits into Celeste's cubit bag, "I meant 'how are you feeling'."

She shrugged, "It's not the first time I've been through the whole hangover routine, though I don't usually get quite _that _zonked." _And I've never ended up on your couch before. _She placed a handful of cubits in the bag, tied it, and pulled out another bag from her pocket.

"Well, from the sound of it, you had help," Apollo told her, "I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner. Starbuck and the guys had half a case down you before I realized what was happening."

"Half a…" Celeste blinked, "You're kidding!"

Apollo shook his head, "it's amazing it took you so long to lose consciousness. You were laughing for half a centar after I got you into the couch." He raised his eyebrows, "And the guys found the dialogue interesting."

Celeste's face turned slightly pink, "Oh Kobal, I think I'm starting to remember. Was I really trying to seduce Greenbean?"

Boxey giggled.

"Hey, Boxey." Apollo chided mock-sternly and slightly embarrassedly, "Why don't you go play with Muffy for a while."

Giving his father a knowing look, Boxey stood up, "C'mon, Muffy, let's leave Dad and Celeste to their kissing talk." He and the daggit bounced out of the quarters.

Celeste watched them go and stood awkwardly to her feet. She stuffed her cubit bags into her pocket and looked around, checking to see if they got all the golden rectangles off Apollo's furniture and floor.

Apollo stood up, too, and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "Don't worry, it wasn't really too bad."

"Even so," Celeste put on her jacket; "I think I will have a talk with that brother of mine."

Starbuck scratched his head. He stared at his notepad, and then did some more calculations. Wadded balls of paper sat in an untidy pile in the center of the table.

Someone walked up behind his chair.

"Not now, Boomer. I've almost got it!" Starbuck cried.

A female voice responded, "Still trying to figure out how to beat me?"

Starbuck quickly realized that Boomer would not be speaking with a female voice and covered his notepad, "Just working out some new strategies…er, hey, how're you feeling?" he changed the subject, grinning up at Celeste.

"Not bad, no thanks to you." Celeste crossed her arms.

"You were the one who said you wanted to relax." Starbuck cried defensively.

"Half a case?" Celeste exclaimed.

Starbuck shrugged, "Didn't bother you at the time."

"After half a case of ambrosia, I'm not sure _anything _would have bothered me!" Celeste pointed out.

"True," Starbuck nodded, "You were kinda…"

"Loopy?" Celeste finished.

"Let's put it this way," Starbuck grinned again, "That was the most I've ever heard anyone talk to my boots in one evening."

"It's official," Celeste groaned, "From now on, no more parties for me. They're just trouble any way you look at them."

"The last ones have been, anyway," Starbuck agreed. He peeked at his notepad, "Got time for a game or two?"

With a twinkle in her eye, Celeste feigned defeat, "oh, no thanks. I already lost all my cubits to Boxey today."

"Boxey?" Starbuck asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah," Celeste shook her head, "We played a few rounds. One moment I'm rich, the next, no cubits. Took Apollo's help to get 'em back."

"_Apollo_?" Starbuck looked shaken, "You're joking, right?"

Celeste shook her head, "Go ahead and ask them if you want."

Starbuck blinked, "I mean, it was bound to happen sometime, but _Boxey_?" He looked again at his notepad, "What does Boxey know that the rest of us don't?"

"Starbuck, you okay?" Celeste cocked her head teasingly.

Starbuck nodded, still looking at his notes, "This is going to take some more thinking."

Celeste just winked, "I think, then, I'll leave you to it."

"Hey, guys, you miss me?" Celeste eased her Viper into formation alongside Boomer and Jolly's craft.

"Celeste!" Jolly exclaimed, "Glad you're feeling better! Heard you had a good time at that celebration party last night."

"Oh, she did all right," Boomer told him, "She downed half a case of ambrosia without blinking, then spent the rest of the evening laughing hysterically at everything and flirting shamelessly with every_one_." He chuckled, "Drove Colonel Tigh crazy."

"Oh, frack," Celeste shrank a little in her seat.

Boomer grinned at her embarrassed voice, "Don't worry. What happens on the _Hermes_, stays on the _Hermes_. Besides, we left you plenty of Cylons to shoot at to regain your honor."

"Haha," Celeste drawled sarcastically, "How nice of you. We'll just see who's laughing when…" She blinked at her scanner.

"Hey guys," Jolly cut into the brief moment of silence, "Are you seeing that?"

Boomer scrutinized his scanner screen, "I thought it was just a sensor echo from the _Galactica_, but now we're too far from it."

Celeste frowned, "It _is_ reading as a battlestar. That's impossible. The _Galactica_'s completely the other direction."

"Not the _Galactica._" Boomer corrected, "another battlestar."

"Another…" Celeste frowned.

Jolly's voice dropped to an awed whisper, "Do you think it's…?"

"It's not likely, Jolly," Boomer replied, "It could be a Cylon trap, we should take a look. Stay on my wing, you two."

Just as he spoke, the three Viper craft suddenly rocked and tumbled out of formation. Celeste desperately clutched her control stick as her ship rolled dangerously close to Jolly's. Both pilots felt the screeching sensation of metal-on-metal vibrating their ships, but the Vipers fell away from each other without further damage.

Jolly recovered control first, "What was that?"

From behind him, Boomer spun his ship back the proper direction, "I have no idea."

"Whatever it was," Celeste said, appearing upside-down over Boomer, "it blacked out the part of my scanner that reads behind us. Hi Boomer!" she waved down at him.

Boomer ignored her and looked at his sensors, shaking his head, "Did the same thing to mine. Could be some sort of sensor jamming."

"Same with my scanner…it's looking like you were right with the trap theory, Boomer." Jolly admitted somewhat nervously.

Celeste righted her ship and returned to formation, "That didn't feel like any old sensor jamming. That felt to me like some kind of shockwave."

"It was strong enough to knock out a ship much bigger than our Vipers." Boomer agreed, "but it didn't, for some reason."

"Something bigger…" Celeste blinked, "Boomer, we've got to warn the _Galactica_!"

"I'm afraid it's too late for that," Boomer sighed, squinting at his scanner, "We're out of range. And we can't see anything that direction. All we can do is keep going forward."

"I think that's what they want." Celeste countered.

Boomer shrugged, "We don't have a choice. We can't risk getting lost on half a tank of fuel."

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Celeste sighed.

The three Vipers flew toward the battlestar-like sensor blip. They didn't see the other three ships until they were being fired upon.

"Yikes!" Celeste cried in surprise, reacting with laser fire to one of the Cylon fighters that had swooped above her.

"Where did they come from?" Jolly asked, looping back to cover Boomer's tail.

"They came out of nowhere," Boomer replied.

Celeste grimaced, "I don't know about you guys," she fired on another, damaging but not destroying it, "but I wish my honor wasn't quite so safe at the moment." She suddenly gasped as a battle shimmered into view, "And I think we would have all been better off if you hadn't left me so many…"

"Lords of Kobal," Boomer exclaimed at the sight looming before them.


	3. Chapter 3

Starbuck strode confidently down the hall to the female pilots' quarters. He'd figured out a Pyramid strategy system and was eager to find his sister to test it out on. If he could just beat Celeste at a few hands, he could beat anybody!

He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" called a female voice from inside, but not Celeste's.

"It's Starbuck," he answered.

"I'm afraid you'll have to come back later, Starbuck," the woman responded teasingly, "we're all fully clothed in here."

Starbuck grinned at the joke, "Boy, you sure know how to disappoint a guy. Actually, I was looking for Celeste."

"Celeste?" the woman asked, "you come all the way down here to a room full of women and you ask for your _sister_? Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine, Theya, just in the mood for a game."

"Ahh," Theya answered him, "She's on patrol with Boomer and Jolly."

Starbuck didn't hide his disappointment well, "Oh."

The door opened and a redhead with big blue eyes smiled back at him. She opened the door just enough that he could see her shapely figure in a form-fitting pressure suit. "I'm off duty this shift," Theya cooed, "if you're looking for something to do."

Starbuck hesitated, very tempted, but wrestling with a nagging feeling that he had forgotten something. He vaguely remembered promising to meet some of the guys in the officer's lounge, but that memory seemed distant in light of the current situation. He grinned at Theya, "I've got some time, myself, actually."

Theya wrapped her arms around his neck and showed his lips where hers were.

Starbuck enjoyed the kiss, but pulled back a little, "What about the others?" He looked pointedly at the door.

Theya smiled her smile again and brushed his hair out of his eyes, "I lied. They're all on shuttle duty." She took his hand, "and they won't be back for centares."

Starbuck gave in, all thoughts of Celeste and Pyramid aside. In fact, it could be argued that most thoughts of anything were aside, packed in cases, and well on their way to the land of the forgotten.

About half a centar later, they were both snuggled on the largest of the sixteen bunks. Theya smiled with her eyes closed and kissed the tip of Starbuck's nose.

The floor vibrated beneath them.

"Mmm, Starbuck!" Theya giggled.

Starbuck smiled, then alarmedly sat up, "That wasn't me!" With practiced swiftness, he jumped off the bed and into his clothes.

Theya watched from the bed, blinking at him, "What was it then?"

"That's what I'm going to find out," Starbuck pulled on his jacket, flashed her a grin, and dashed out the door. It wasn't a particularly happy grin. It was more akin to an annoyed grimace.

He found Captain Apollo leaving the _Galactica_ bridge lift.

"What's going on, Apollo?" Starbuck looked around as if expecting the answer to be written on the walls.

Apollo shook his head, "Some kind of shockwave hit the fleet. We lost long-range sensors and some less essential systems. No one knows where the wave originated from, but it was powerful enough to damage several of the smaller ships. One of the shuttles had to make an emergency landing due to hull fractures."

A group of technicians dashed by, presumably en route to the sensor arrays.

Starbuck shook his head, "Sis sure picked a good time for a long-range patrol."

"Celeste's out there in a fighter?" Apollo gasped.

Starbuck waved his hand, "I'm sure she's fine. Boomer and Jolly are with her."

An expression of relief mostly failed to flood across Apollo's face, "Vipers may be tougher than shuttles, but if they've lost sensors they could be trapped out there."

Starbuck refused to let his friend's negative attitude ruin his otherwise good senton, "Apollo, stop worrying. They may not have even been hit. And they're all resourceful; they'll find their way back one way or another."

Apollo sighed, "I can't help it. Every time she's out there and something goes wrong…I get concerned."

Starbuck shook his head, "who can blame you. But you do need to loosen up a little. All that…concernedness…can't be good for you, and it doesn't help Celeste any."

"You're right, buddy," Apollo tried to smile, "I need to start thinking positive."

"That's the spirit!" Starbuck nodded, "And speaking of, why don't you join me at the officer's lounge?"

"Well," Apollo relented, "Everyone _is_ grounded until further notice."

"We've got time to relax," Starbuck smiled.

Apollo nodded and started walking down the hallway, "We'd just better hope no one decides to attack..."

"Uh uh uh," Starbuck stopped him, "That's not positive."

Apollo grinned, "Sorry. Let me rephrase that. No one better attack us or it's their funeral." He looked serious again, "though it is bad timing with the sensors down…"

Starbuck grabbed Apollo's arm and started dragging him to the officer's lounge, "Well, timing's been on my side, today," he said quickly, before Apollo could think of any more problems that could arise, "Besides, we've always got the _Lemonade_."

Apollo winced slightly at the mention of Celeste's Viper/shuttle hybrid ship.

_I haven't set foot on it since…_

He shook his head and tried to refocus on something more upbeat, if not for himself at least for Starbuck's sake. The poor guy was trying very hard to stay optimistic in the face of Apollo's doom-and-gloom comments.

_I've got to stop thinking about Celeste and her uncanny ability to get into dangerous situations. I've got to think about something else._

Something else soon obliged him when the ceiling suddenly crumpled.

Adama turned every which way from his position on the central elevated section of the bridge. He somehow managed to make the movement appear graceful and purposeful; where on anyone else it would have just looked nutty. His reason for the back-and-forth movement, however, seemed very nutty indeed. At least, to the outside observer. To everyone on the bridge, it was just another senton on the job.

The reason it appeared nutty was that the reason was invisible.

"Are the long range sensors back online?" Adama asked while peeking over someone's shoulder at an energy readout and also signaling Colonel Tigh to check up on the intership communications.

"Not yet, Sir," came the reply.

"Let me know the micron they are," he ordered, and then he twirled to read the printed sheet that the bridge officer Omega held out to him.

Athena paused in her work just long enough to send her father an admiring and encouraging smile. Adama paused long enough to return a somewhat strained one, then turned around to see more monitor screens.

That's when a new sound interrupted the busy bridge. It was a creaking, groaning sound of metal under stress.

"Sir, we're losing hull integrity!" cried one bridge officer as she flipped through the status screens.

"Divert all available energy to the shields!" Adama ordered.

"Not enough energy," the officer reported, "hull fractures reported on all levels. Sir, the _Galactica_ is breaking up!"

Adama barely blinked, making a decision, "Order all hands to abandon ship."

Colonel Tigh appeared by Adama's left shoulder. Adama turned slightly toward his old friend, but didn't look him in the eye as he spoke, "We have no choice."

Tigh blinked once, and then nodded sadly.


	4. Chapter 4

"There's got to be a basestar somewhere nearby," Jolly remarked.

Celeste took a moment to peer into the Cylon-filled darkness outside, "There is, look! To the right."

"I didn't see it before," Boomer squinted at the shadowy spool-shaped ship, "It's dark and…and dead."

Celeste indicated her agreement to this statement with a slight brow furrow. Then realizing that her wing-mates couldn't see her, she added, "That shockwave must've knocked them out."

"They wouldn't have knocked themselves out," Boomer reasoned.

"If the Cylons didn't do it," Jolly asked, "Who did?"

"That is a good question," Boomer replied.

Celeste spun her Viper to avoid some Cylon laser fire and happened to glance again at the basestar, "What…?"

"What is it, Celeste?" Jolly asked.

Boomer saw it, too. "Is it just me, or are those explosions?"

Sure enough, the dark shape, more an absence of stars than anything else, was sparking. There were large balls of flame bursting from the center of the "spool".

"She's gonna blow!" Celeste gasped.

No sooner had the "w" left her mouth than the entire Cylon base ship blasted into an enormous fireball and disintegrated.

The basestar was gone.

Once again, the Vipers broke formation; this time to dodge flying chunks of metal. Celeste found herself flying through an entire garrison of spaced centurions.

"Now that's something you don't see every senton," she commented as their silver bodies clunked off her ship's shielding. She blasted one for the fun of it and flew out of the silvery mess to find Boomer and Jolly.

She saw the two Vipers and fell in behind them, "Seems to be our senton for being caught in shockwaves."

One of the Vipers suddenly spun around and sat on her tail.

"Guys?" Celeste tapped her helmet, trying to determine if her comm. still worked, "Hello? Did I miss something?"

The Viper behind her fired, nearly hitting her left wing. She twirled her fighter, reacting reflexively.

"This is Lt. Bojay to unidentified craft. You are targeted, do not attempt another move."

"Bojay?" Celeste looked around in confusion, "I don't know any Bojay! What squadron are you?"

"I'll ask the questions," said a female voice now, "Identify yourself!"

Celeste blinked. It wasn't often that she got that question these sentons, "Lt. Celeste of Blue Squadron."

"Blue Squadron?" the female voice now sounded surprised, then suspicious, "I know everyone in Blue Squadron. I don't know you."

"No offence, but where have you been living?" Celeste asked, flabbergasted.

"I said I'd ask the questions," the other woman said icily, "you're coming with me."

"May I _ask_ where?" Celeste looked around.

"You can ask," the other woman seemed to be enjoying her authority, "but you'll see in just a moment."

Suddenly, a battlestar shimmered into view. It was identical to the _Galactica_, but much more battle-scarred.

"Welcome to the Battlestar _Pegasus_," the woman announced.

Not long afterward, Celeste found herself escorted by the woman pilot, who had finally identified herself as Lt. Sheba, to a commander's office. Inside, it appeared much like Adama's office, except this one was empty save a case of war medals on the wall and a single likeness of Lt. Sheba on the desk.

The door opened. Celeste looked up to see Boomer and Jolly enter, chatting jovially with the officer escorting them.

"See you later, Bojay," Jolly called as the officer left. Boomer waved. Celeste sat in perplexed silence as they each took a seat on either side of her on the wall bench. Jolly seemed hardly able to contain his excitement. Celeste gave him one of the puzzled looks she'd been firing at the door.

_Why do I feel like the 'new kid' again? _she thought.

Finally, the door opened and in stepped an older man with steely blue eyes and an overconfident bearing. He carried a baton topped with a shiny bird, and wore an antiquated commander's battle suit. The man nodded to Boomer and Jolly and frowned at Celeste. She frowned back.

The man stood in front of them. Finally, he spoke, "Good to see you again, Boomer, Jolly," he nodded his head toward Celeste, "But I don't know this one. You're training her in, I suppose."

Celeste bristled.

Boomer placed a hand on her shoulder, partly as a gesture of friendship for the man's benefit, and partly as a silent reminder for Celeste to keep her cool, "This, Commander Cain, is Lt. Celeste. She is a seasoned member of our squadron and a darn good pilot."

"Very well," the man looked her in the eye, then he addressed all of them, "Now, what were you doing invading our airspace?"

Jolly blinked and boggled, "We didn't know you were there."

The commander nodded, "Of course not, we have a specialized shield to keep us hidden. But you are a very long way from the _Galactica_ by our sensors. What were you doing all the way out here?"

Boomer spoke up, "We regularly do long-range patrol to scout resources and look out for potential obstacles that the fleet might encounter."

Cain stood straight and nodded again to Boomer, "Of course, I know Adama's the cautious type. But you three stumbled into a very important and dangerous equipment test with your unauthorized approach. You could have all been killed."

"Sorry," Celeste crossed her arms, "We weren't expecting to run into another battlestar out here at the exact moment you decide to explode a basestar."

Boomer quickly spoke before Cain had a chance to respond, "An equipment test?"

The commander shook his head, "Classified."

"We saw that basestar go," Jolly finally found his voice again, "that was really impressive!"

_Oh, big deal, _Celeste thought huffily, _I've blown up a basestar before. So have Starbuck and Apollo, for that matter. _

Cain didn't react to Jolly's comment and turned to Sheba, who had reentered the room and stood behind him, "Have we contacted the _Galactica _yet?"

Sheba shook her head, "Not yet. Their comm. may have gone down." She glanced pointedly at the three _Galactica _pilots to remind them that they weren't in on the secret of the equipment testing.

Commander Cain nodded and gestured to the trio, "In that case, make our guests comfortable."

"Yes Daddy." Sheba gave the commander a smile quickly before escorting Boomer, Jolly, and Celeste out of the office.


	5. Chapter 5

"He may be a legend, but he just seems stiff to me," Celeste flopped into a threadbare chair that looked as if it had once been cushy.

The three of them were sitting in a small room with a card table and some drinks. Boomer and Jolly had just finished explaining the legend of Commander Cain.

Boomer sighed, "He's a tough commander, but he's had to be to survive."

"Attacking Cylon bases, sacrificing good pilots," Celeste added, "Sounds like a real caring leader."

Boomer shrugged, "It's his ship, I didn't say I agreed with his methods, but they are effective."

"I suppose," Celeste sighed, "I just wish he wasn't keeping us _on_ his ship. I'd like to get back to the _Galactica_. You know, Starbuck promised me a game when we got back."

"Like you need the cubits," Boomer said teasingly.

Celeste grinned, "hey, a girl can't spend a little time with her brother? I did promise he could win sometimes."

"How considerate of you," Boomer laughed.

"Yeah," Jolly put in, "seems you're being very considerate lately."

Celeste blinked at him, "Um, pardon me?"

Jolly suddenly looked anxious, "Did I say that out loud?"

"You did," Boomer told him.

"Uh," Jolly glanced around, "Forget it."

"No really," Celeste sat forward, "If this is about the whole fame-and-fortune-hero-worship thing..."

"It's not that," Jolly coughed.

Celeste raised an eyebrow, "Really."

Jolly looked a bit scared now, "Well, maybe it is a little…"

Celeste sighed and flopped backward again, "Not you, too, Jolly!"

"Well, it's just…I know you've said that you'd try to be more normal and all," Jolly burst out, "but that doesn't really make the rest of us feel better knowing you're holding back when we're still doing our best to keep up with you."

"It's not about keeping up," Celeste replied, and then looked over at Boomer, "is it?"

"Well," Boomer said carefully, "I know a lot of pilots feel competitive. It's a blow to their image to have you in their midst showing everyone up."

"I never wanted to blow anybody's image," Celeste replied defensively, "I was just flying. And I was under the impression that flying the best you can and shooting up Cylons and protecting people was the whole point of being a pilot in the _Galactica_'s strike wing."

Jolly raised his hands as if to protect himself from Celeste, "Don't get upset, we know how you feel."

Celeste stared at him in frustration, "Well what do you guys want me to do? Stop flying?"

"No one wants that," Boomer gave Jolly a warning glance and turned back to Celeste, "I think right now everyone's just tense. A lot of strange things have been happening lately. Things should cool down soon."

Celeste crossed her arms and tried to relax again, "You guys know that ever since that whole mess with the Evil Ego from Hades, I've become more 'normal' in my flying abilities."

"Can we trust you on that?" Jolly retorted, "You said yourself that you'd pull back and give everyone else a chance. For all we know you're just bluffing, now."

"Does it really matter?" Celeste shook her head, "A good pilot's a good pilot, and you guys are every bit as good as I am, if not better."

Jolly looked her in the eye, "But can we really trust you?"

"Jolly!" Boomer gave the pilot another warning glance.

Celeste stood up and cried hotly, "What do you want from me, a confession?"

"Celeste!" Boomer now gave her a warning glance, but she ignored it.

Jolly stood up, "I don't know, how much of it would you confess to?"

"How much of _what_?" Celeste demanded and stood up, too. Boomer looked as if he wasn't sure which one to grab before things got out of hand.

Jolly pointed to her, "All those stories I've heard about you leading Cylon centurions, and saving Baltar's life, and sabotaging your own ship with Apollo and Starbuck inside it!"

"That's enough, Jolly!" Boomer stepped forward.

The normally even-tempered Jolly was on a roll and couldn't stop himself, "Just makes me wonder what else you're really capable of!"

Boomer's eyes opened wide in astonishment.

Celeste just glared at Jolly with eyes that showed her betrayed feelings, "Just come out and say it," she hissed, "just tell me what you really think. Just say what it is everyone thinks I am!" She stepped forward to look eye-to-eye with Jolly, who shrank backward, suddenly painfully aware he'd seriously awakened her infamous temper. He braced himself for a fight.

But the young woman just gazed at him, her eyes hard, "From the beginning, I've been suspected of being a Cylon spy. And I see now that there's nothing I can do to convince you guys otherwise."

That said, she turned on her heel and strode out.

"Celeste…" Boomer called after her.

"Turboflush," she called back. She walked quickly away, wondering where it was that she was really going.

_I suppose I could actually _go_ to a turboflush. Wouldn't that be something, me being where I say I'm going to be. Doing what I say I'm going to do. _

She came across one of the turboflush rooms and let herself in, running headlong into Sheba.

"Ow! What are you doing here?" Sheba cried, startled.

"Having a party," Celeste replied dryly.

Before Sheba could answer, the wall clunked.

_Bang._

"What was that?" Sheba cried.

Celeste shrugged bewilderedly, "You're asking me?"

Sheba turned and raced out the door, Celeste on her heels. They _both_ nearly ran into another warrior dashing toward them. He looked like he was in shock.

"Bojay, what's wrong?" Sheba asked, alarmed at his dazed state.

"I came to find you…as soon as I found out…" Bojay gulped, "It's…outside…oh Sheba it's bad…"

More clunking sounds came from the outer wall.

Sheba and Celeste quickly followed Bojay around a corner and into a room with a wide viewglass. Outside the viewglass, large chunks of debris floated everywhere, bouncing off the _Pegasus_' hull. There seemed to be thousands of them, glittering with the light from the gases of a nebula.

"What is it?" Sheba gasped.

"_Was_ it," Bojay corrected hoarsely, "it _was_ a ship."

"No kidding, that was a really big ship," Celeste surmised, "That's not Cylon hull plating, are we near any planets?" She looked up at Bojay and Sheba, who shook their heads. Sheba looked worriedly out at the wreckage.

"If we're not near a planet…" Celeste looked carefully at the pieces. There was something strangely familiar about them, about the sight. _A feeling of deep despair and overwhelming tragedy came over Celeste. She realized it was somehow caused by the pattern of the sparkling, as though she had seen it before somewhere. Sometime. As though she had been there, seeing that very sparkling, at a time when it had meant something ominous and…_

And suddenly she remembered.

"It can't be," she whispered, "No way. He can't have been right."

_At once, she knew what she was looking at and who she was with. At once, the feeling of dread that had been flitting through her gut settled down and set up housekeeping. It was rubble from…_

"Oh Bojay!" Sheba cried, jerking Celeste from a very unpleasant memory directly to a very unpleasant reality. Sheba turned her face into Bojay's jacket, sobbing, "How did this happen?"

Bojay wrapped his arms around her, "the weapon…the scientists were right, it wasn't ready…"

"Then," Sheba sniffed, "then it was our fault!" She began wailing.

Celeste's heart joined in with Sheba's cries, barely hearing the words, while her eyes refused to believe what they were seeing. A piece of multicolored metal tumbled past, as if in slow motion. It was the remains of a ship she'd known well. She'd built the _Lemonade_ with her own hands. And she'd left it parked in the shuttlebay of the only known ship large enough to leave this big of a rubble field.

_The _Galactica_._


	6. Chapter 6

Words caught in her throat as she tried to speak. She wasn't sure what it was she would have said, anyway. She felt numb. It wasn't true. It couldn't be.

Another piece thudded against the hull as if to punctuate her thoughts.

She didn't hear it. Everything went silent. Nothing existed. Not Sheba, or Bojay, or the _Pegasus_. Jolly and Boomer had arrived and were staring in shock at the scene. But they didn't exist either. No one did. To Celeste, the universe was empty of all but her own heart beating in her ears and her own head telling her not to believe.

She slid down the nonexistent wall to the nonexistent floor, unable to move, unable to think, unable to feel.

How long she sat there, she never knew, but it seemed yahrens before a distraught Boomer finally made it through to her.

"Celeste?" he asked softly, "Celeste, can you hear me?"

She just stared.

Boomer sat down next to her. Jolly stood awkwardly by the viewglass, staring out. Bojay took Sheba to her quarters and left the trio in private.

"Celeste, look at me," Boomer wiped at his eyes and shook her gently.

She finally opened her mouth and spoke, her voice shaking, "This senton…holds the record…for the worst…I've ever had…and that's saying something…"

"I know," Boomer spoke slowly.

Celeste shivered, drifting slightly back into her grey world of nothing, "It's not…can't be…just…gone."

"Look at me," Boomer repeated.

Celeste looked up, her eyes vacant.

"This may be the worst senton you've had, but you're not in it alone. You've got two friends here having a bad senton right along with you, and we're not going anywhere."

"How can you say that," Celeste shook her head, the fog clearing for a moment, "You don't know for sure."

"Well we're definitely going to do our best to stick around," Boomer told her.

Jolly nodded, "And at least we're reasonably safe for now_._"

"Not with me," Celeste's eyes darkened as she stood up, "Seems everything I touch explodes."

"That's not true," Boomer stood up and looked at her with his own sorrow reflecting in his eyes, "Don't make this about you, it's not your fault. Bad things happen, and we have no control over that. All we can do is stick together and survive."

"You don't understand," Celeste shook her head slowly, "I've seen that before!" she pointed to the viewglass, "I've seen it…exactly that. That's not just the _Galactica_, that's the fleet out there. The human race." She backed away slowly, still shaking her head, "what difference does it make if _I_ survive…when everything worth living for is gone!" She turned and quickly walked away, pushing through her suffocating thoughts and trying desperately to come up for air.

"Celeste," Jolly called, but Boomer held him back.

"Let her go this time," he told Jolly.

Jolly sighed, "I don't blame her. I feel like running away, too."

Closing her eyes, Celeste tried to block out images in her mind. Images of her friends, her family, those who had been on the battlestar and in the fleet.

_I was just beginning to feel like I belonged somewhere, _she thought, _there with the squadron and Commander Adama and Athena and Cassiopeia and…Apollo…and…little Boxey…and Starbuck…and even Colonel Tigh! We're all that's left. But we can't be! It's happening too fast, this has to be a nightmare. But it just goes on, everyone says it's over. And all I can feel is emptiness._

_All I can feel is emptiness._

No one saw Commander Cain for several sentons. Many of the officers wondered if this was because he was overwhelmed with guilt or if he was afraid someone would throttle him if he showed his face.

Despite the commander's order for all available personnel to search for survivors, tensions remained high. As it happened, several of the slower ships had survived the blast simply because the shockwave had dispersed by the time it reached them. Many of the officers had gone to assist with repairs and search for any shuttles or escape pods that may have made it out of range. But it seemed that the _Pegasus _crew had split down the middle with the dispute over their commanding officer.

There were those who remained loyal to Cain, stating that it was a freak accident and could not have been foreseen. Then there were those who argued that the scientists had warned that the weapon was not ready for testing, and the commander knew that the fleet was close by. Apparently the weapon designed to blast apart Cylon basestars had a much wider range than anticipated, and hadn't been calibrated to leave Colonial shields unaffected, except those on Viper fighter craft.

There were many of the officers that felt betrayed; their daring commander had gone too far this time. Some of them would have liked to knock him flat, rank or no rank. Legend or no legend.

_I'd join them, _Celeste thought bitterly, _if I could pull myself together. At the moment, all I might be able to muster is some heated comments. I feel so…strange. I can't accept it, but a part of me knows what happened and that it's true. It's not true. It's not true but it's happening. Why do I have two voices in my head, shouting opposing arguments at me, and why do I feel like they're both right?_

She rubbed her eyes tiredly, _would help if I could get some sleep. But I can't stop thinking about them. Every time I close my eyes, I see the wreckage. The nebula that isn't a nebula. I hear the evil laughter from someone that I can't see. I can feel myself slipping again, into the void of darkness. That terrible darkness. Ironically, I'm sitting in darkness. But this is definitely not a secret Cylon base, and there's no evil slimy bad guys slamming me into walls. Come on, Celeste. Get a grip. _That_ nightmare is over. Long over. And Apollo was there to rescue you from it._

Celeste sat in the closet she'd found.

It had been quite a few sentons since the rubble field, but she still came to the closet to think, to be alone, to shut out the living nightmare taking place outside the door. Visions of her past horrible experiences flooded into her brain while she was there, keeping the thoughts of the current situation far removed from her mind.

But today especially, it had sunk in. Today they'd called off the search for survivors. No one she knew had been found, and her hope had died with the order for the _Pegasus_ to leave the area. But still, she was unable to cry. It was just too surreal, as though eventually it would stop happening and everything would go back to normal. She kept thinking everyone would come back. It must all be a dream, from some Viper accident. She must be in a coma. She'd wake up and see the disapproving, yet concerned, face of the man she loved, if she just waited long enough. Her brother would be there, too…

The door opened. Boomer looked down at her. Celeste started guiltily, realizing that he probably knew she had been avoiding him and Jolly.

"How'd you know I was here?" she asked sheepishly, standing up.

"I've known for a while now where you've been hiding," Boomer replied, his expression unreadable.

"I haven't been hiding," she said, looking down.

"Yes," Boomer's voice responded, "you have. You haven't spoken to or looked at anyone in sentons. You keep slipping off to this closet. I'd say you're hiding."

Celeste's head shot back up, "So what if I am? There's nothing else to do on this rotten tub! I help with the survivors when the crew 'allows me in their presence', but the rest of the time, I'm on my own!"

Boomer stepped back, a bit surprised at the outburst after the woman's long sentons of silence.

"And you know," Celeste ranted, face flushed, "After spending sectares trying to fit in with the rest of you, I've finally figured out, I'm always going to be alone," She shot Boomer an angry glare and stomped off, shouting back, "And that's just how I like it!"

_I don't believe that for a micron,_ thought Boomer, _and I don't think you believe it either. _

_He slowly began to follow her, in case he had to save Celeste from herself. _Now I fully understand why Apollo always looked so worried when he was around Celeste.


	7. Chapter 7

Celeste stomped down corridors. No particular corridors, just corridors. She scared several of the crewmembers as she went by, scowling with fire in her eyes. As they jumped out of her way, she didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore, there was nothing left, and someone was responsible. Someone had ruined her life, and someone was going to get a loud reminder of that fact. Whether or not it was the someone who was actually to blame who got the loud reminder depended on who got in her way.

The first someone happened to be Sheba.

"We've got to stop meeting like this!" Sheba yelped as Celeste nearly ran her over, "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"I don't know; I don't _have_ anywhere to go now, do I?" Celeste growled.

Sheba blinked at the malice in the other pilot's words, "What?"

"Your daddy's equipment testing goes wrong," Celeste stormed, "And all I get from him is a message saying, 'oops, sorry about destroying the only home you'd ever known'."

Sheba grabbed Celeste's arm, "We're all mourning the loss of the _Galactica_. But you know, they're not really gone as long as we remember them."

"Oh that makes me feel better, thanks for sharing that gem of wisdom!" Celeste yanked her arm out of the other woman's grasp, "But I can't even remember my quarters back into existence, let alone my family!"

Sheba shook her head, "They told me you two were related, but I didn't realize just _how_ related."

Celeste glared, interrupting Sheba before the other woman could make any further comments about her lost brother, "I'm not related to anyone, anymore." She turned and stomped off again.

"Have it your way," Sheba called back, "sister of Starbuck." She saw Celeste flinch, wave her hand dismissively, and continue her rampage down the halls.

_Okay, that was low, _Sheba admitted to herself, regretting her mention of Celeste's sibling, _She's got to be hurting badly, underneath all that shouting and anger. And I'm not helping at all. Poor thing. I've got to make more of an effort to be sensitive. After the stories I've heard, I can't even imagine how she must be feeling. I don't feel like I can trust her though. What's she hiding?_

Celeste found herself stomping less energetically into the _Pegasus_' officer's lounge. She regarded its very few occupants with a cold and polite loathing as she took a seat and ordered a drink. Several people looked at her curiously. She'd never been in there before, and they saw the _Galactica_ insignia on her jacket.

"Hey, you're that pilot, the famous one everyone's been asking about!"

Celeste tried to ignore the bartender as he set her ambrosia down. She'd had enough recognition for one lifetime.

"Hey, do you mind?" she sighed, "just leave me alone."

The guy continued staring at her with a strange sort of dark grin, "You're Lt. Celeste, aren't you? Oh, the things I've heard about you! Is it true you were a Cylon once?"

Celeste closed her eyes, sighed again, opened her eyes, and rolled them, wondering if it was even worth the trouble to correct him.

He didn't wait for an answer, "People have been asking if you died when the _Galactica _went."

The table creaked a little under Celeste's grip.

"You're a real legend with the survivors, from what I hear."

Celeste whirled and stood up, her chair toppling over. "First of all," she roared, "I renounced my legendary-" she paused for a micron, "…ness…sectons ago!"

The man backed away.

Celeste stepped toward him, "Second of all, have you ever seen a Cylon drink ambrosia?" She swirled her mug in front of the man.

This caused a titter around the room.

The guy shook his head, "Whatever you were, you're the most famous of the _Galactica_ survivors, I can tell you that."

Celeste roiled, "I should have died on that ship, along with the others!" She glared intensely, "but instead I was trapped here on this one against my will!"

The man suddenly shoved her into a wall, pinning her down, "You're right. You should have died on that ship," he grabbed her hands and held them against the wall. Leaning close, he breathed into her face, "but then I never would have met such a famous pilot. And so attractive, too."

The other occupants of the room decided it was getting too hot for them and exited.

Celeste pushed back with her knee, shoving the guy into an empty table. He crashed into it, blinking and gasping back at her in surprise. Then he plunged forward and wrestled her to the floor. She flipped him off of her, sending him tumbling into the bar. He stood up and grabbed a chair, thrashing it around in an attempt to hit her with it.

"What is your problem?" she cried, dodging under a table.

The guy turned the table over and whacked what was left of the chair into the floor that had moments before been where Celeste had sought refuge. She rolled out of his way, only to find too late that the edge of a toppled chair was in front of her. She plowed into it and sat dazed for a few microns before dodging another chair, thrown this time.

The man laughed as he advanced toward her, "I don't have a problem, I just don't like anybody coming in here and threatening my commander. I know what you _Galactica_ns have been planning, and your little horde won't get away with it!"

"What in Hades are you talking about?" Celeste yelled, pausing unwisely in her escape attempt to stare at the guy.

He glared back, wielding part of a chair leg, "If you and your friends even attempt to assassinate Commander Cain, the _Pegasus_ crew will retaliate, I assure you!"

Celeste's mouth dropped open, "That's felgercarb!"

"I bet!" the man stood. He struck at Celeste with the chair leg as she kicked his _own_ legs out from under him.

Trembling with fury and adrenaline, Celeste stood up and grabbed the man up by his collar, "Listen, you! Neither my friends, nor I, have any plans to kill anyone…though I'm getting less and less concerned for your well being!"

The man just struggled as Celeste's grip tightened. He started gasping and turning purple.

Celeste growled, "You'd better stay away from us! Don't come near my friends!"

"Celeste!" Boomer's voice cut through her rage, "let him go!"

_She did, and as Boomer's hands pulled her away, she yelled back, "Stay away from them!"_


	8. Chapter 8

"What are we going to do with you?" Boomer asked Celeste, handing her an ice pack as they sat in the room adjoining the quarters designated for the three "_Galactica_ns".

She held it over her black eye from where she'd knocked into the chair edge, "For the last time, it was self-defense. That guy seriously wanted to kill me! Or…something." She frowned at the memory of his breath.

"I know, I know," Boomer raised his hands, "but that's not what it looked like to the two security guys who came in behind me. It's your word against the bartender's. You've got to be more careful, Celeste. No more fistfights."

"Ah, Boomer, you should know me better than that," the scowl Celeste had been wearing for the past few sentons lightened a bit, "no fists were involved. Just chairs, tables…"

Boomer looked at her in mock amazement, "Was that some of the famous Celeste wit returning?"

"Please," Celeste shook her head; "I don't want to hear the word 'famous' again for a very very _very_ long time."

"Okay, okay," Boomer smiled slightly, "but it's good to have you back."

Her eyes went deep in sadness for a moment, but the glint returned and she managed a smile, "It's good to be back."

"Am I interrupting something?" Sheba glanced at the two of them.

Boomer shook his head, "She was just regaling me with her tales of chairs and tables."

"I heard about what happened," Sheba walked over to the two, "sounded like a pretty nasty fight." She grinned, "I'll bet that bartender thinks twice before harassing another pilot."

Celeste snorted slightly, then looked up suspiciously, "Hey…you're not siding with me, are you?"

"Beecher had it coming to him," Sheba sat on the sofa, "Everybody knows he's crazy. He was always harassing everyone, that's why only his buddies go there anymore. Even they're just a bunch of cowards."

"So I noticed," Celeste remembered the room suddenly being vacated.

Boomer stood, "I've got to get back to work flying shuttles, so if you can keep from throwing furniture at each other I'll let you ladies keep each other company for a while," he gave Celeste a warning look.

"Not even one barstool, I promise," Celeste nodded to him with the hint of a smile.

"I'll hold you to that," Boomer smiled back, and left.

Celeste watched him go, and then eyed Sheba suspiciously, "Seriously, what's this about? You've been…hostile…ever since I got here."

"I'm sorry about that," Sheba looked down, "I guess I was jealous."

"Jealous?" Celeste blinked at her with her good eye.

Sheba nodded, "Yeah, you see, after I left the _Galactica_, I realized it was a mistake. I…I missed Captain Apollo. So I tried to find the _Galactica_ again, but I got turned around. Luckily for me, the _Pegasus _picked up my distress call."

"Very lucky," Celeste nodded, then bit her lip and said slowly, "you know, Apollo did talk about you. He didn't tell me where you were from, just that he used to know you."

"Really?" Sheba smiled, "I never should have left him." She sighed, "Poor Apollo. And after Serina…well when I realized I'd made him lose another woman in his life I decided I had to go back…but it's too late now."

Celeste looked down, "Yeah."

"I wish that he hadn't had to be alone," Sheba's eyes welled up, "Did he ever… did he find someone else?"

Setting down the ice pack, Celeste sighed and leaned back in the sofa, "I don't know. I'd like to think he did." Her eyes seemed to search the ceiling for the answer.

"What do you mean?" Sheba sniffed, looking at Celeste curiously, then whispered, "Was it…you?"

Celeste finally looked back, her own eyes watering for the first time since the incident, "There were certain times when we were together, when I felt like there was something between us."

Sheba nodded sadly, "You don't know for sure?"

After a long pause, Celeste nodded, "I guess deep down I do. I get the feeling I wouldn't be alive otherwise." She smiled at Sheba, attempting and failing to lighten the mood. She frowned again, "I just wish I'd had the chance to return the favor."

Looking down, Sheba sniffled, "Thank you."

"For what?" Celeste asked, a bit baffled.

"Well," Sheba looked up and smiled tearfully, "it helps to talk about him."

Celeste nodded, suddenly realizing it was true. "It does."

Sheba wiped at her eyes, "sorry about the crying, I'm an emotional person."

Celeste chuckled, "Heh, so am I, except when I get emotional, chairs get broken."

Sheba giggled through her tears, "Yeah. You're definitely a unique person."

"I am now," Celeste replied, a bit too quickly. She looked down, her expression darkening again.

"Oh, frack, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" Sheba took a deep breath and inwardly berated herself, "I'm sorry about what I said earlier, too. Your brother was a great Warrior, and I'm sure he'd be proud of you standing up for yourself and your friends like you did. That was straight out of the Starbuck Handbook."

Celeste nodded, still looking down, then suddenly sniffled, "Well, what do you know, I'm crying." She pulled her feet onto the couch and hugged her knees to herself, "I miss them, Sheba."

"I miss them, too, and I've had longer to get used to them not being there." Sheba said understandingly, "and…I still have my father and Bojay and the _Pegasus_…I remember every senton now how fortunate I am. I'm sorry for you three. I truly am." She impulsively put her arms around the other young woman.

Celeste stiffened at the embrace, but decided against stiffening and just let herself go. Appearing strong didn't matter anymore. Being brave didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was a person grieving for her loved ones, and she'd found a sympathetic soul to cry with.

_Where am I?_ _Celeste thought in the darkness. Wherever she was, it was hot and dark. Every once in a while, a small spark flew like an ominous shooting star in the shadows…_

Somewhere in Celeste's mind, she recognized this scenario and wished it would stop, but the dream continued.

_Who are you? _

_The man-being's eyes shone with the light of a million planets burning, "My name is not of consequence. I have brought you here because you are searching for something, and I can help you find it. I know all your deepest desires, and I can help you obtain them."_

_Events flitted past. Familiar faces came and went. People died. Ships exploded. Somewhere in the turmoil and horror, a voice floated to her. _

"_I can see into the future as well as the distant past. I know all and see all...I can see the outcome of you returning now. You will simply be killed with the rest of them."_

Celeste rolled over on her couch, throwing off her blanket. But the voice didn't quit.

"_How you die doesn't really matter, does it?"_

_Celeste sighed, "What's my other choice?"_

"_You could stay here with me, and together we could use our powers for the greater good of the galaxy." Erebus said. Celeste noted a hint of victory in his voice._

"_And if I decide not to 'use my powers'?" Celeste countered._

_A flash of red shone in Erebus' eyes, but vanished so fast that only Celeste's quick eyes could detect it. He purred, "Then you might as well return to your race's Armageddon."_

_At once, the voice clicked in Celeste's brain. At once, she knew what she was looking at and who she was with. _

_Make it stop!_

Boomer staggered into the room, blinking at the groaning couch, "Celeste?"

The young woman turned over again and snore-moaned, deep in her all-too-familiar nightmare.

_It was rubble from a future battle. The nebula was not a nebula at all, but gases from over two-hundred ships simultaneously destroyed._

"_Your race's Armageddon."_

"_No!" she shouted._

"_One of your futures. One of the few where you lived to grow old."_

"Never! Never again!" Celeste cried out.

"Celeste!" Boomer went to her.

"_Your race's Armageddon."_

"_How could betrayal of everything and everyone I love and stand for 'save my friends'?"_

"_How you die doesn't really matter, does it?"_

"_I've got to get back!"_

"_How you die!"_

"_Shut up! Just leave me alone!" _

"_It doesn't matter…how you die…how you die…"_

"Celeste wake up!"

"Shut up!" Celeste sat up suddenly and punched wildly, hitting something alive. Then she sat up, realizing she'd once again attacked one of her friends upon waking, "Sorry Boomer!" She shook her head, trying to get the hated voice to stop echoing in her mind.

Boomer's sleepy form, silhouetted by the light of the stars outside the viewglass, just nodded and rubbed his side, "Now I know what they mean when they say 'woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

Celeste sighed and flopped back down.

"You okay?" Boomer asked drowsily, "you were making an awful lot of noise."

Nodding, Celeste rubbed her temples, "Just another nightmare. They've been getting worse."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Boomer mumbled sleepily, "literally and figuratively."

"Oops," she shook her head, "I wish they'd stop. It's as if…I'm trying to tell myself something. Something important that I've forgotten, or need to know, or something."

"Or," Boomer replied, "it could just be nightmares."

"Yeah," Celeste agreed, "that's more likely, I guess." _My heart wants to hope that there is a future. _She looked up at the outline of her friend, "I'll be okay now, Boomer."

"If you're sure," Boomer said slowly, "I'll see you in the morning."

_Morning, _Celeste thought, _is not something I've seen in a long time._

She pulled her blanket back over her and tried to relax, but the micron she closed her eyes, the nightmare returned.


	9. Chapter 9

Celeste sat up suddenly. The lights were on, and the side room the guys shared was silent. She realized she was the only one there.

"Frack!" She swung her legs over the side of the couch and stumbled into a clean uniform. Pulling on her _Galactica_ jacket, she dashed out of the room.

It made sense now.

She ran until she reached the bridge turbolift, and then rode it up. Bursting onto the bridge, she looked around and exclaimed, "I need to see Commander Cain!"

A bunch of bridge officers gave her blank stares.

She stared back at them, "It's urgent!"

"You are not allowed on this bridge," one of the officers informed her.

"I've got something I have to tell him!" Celeste tried again.

The officer walked toward her, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"I'll leave when you tell me how to reach Cain," Celeste stubbornly held her ground. She was frankly tired of being pushed around by _Pegasus_ personnel.

"Look," the man stopped a few feet away and gave her a stern glare, "maybe on the _Galactica_ you were allowed to intrude on the commander's time, but here on the _Pegasus_, we have rules of conduct and you are very close to breaking them."

"Fine." Celeste retorted, "I'll find another way." She turned on her heel and stalked back to the turbolift.

The man shook his head and returned to duty, "_Galactica_ns."

"Sheba!" Celeste caught up to the other pilot as she was heading for shuttle duty. Sheba turned and blinked at Celeste.

"What do you want?" she asked.

Celeste blinked back, surprised at the rude greeting, "I was just wondering if you could arrange a meeting with your dad for me."

"What for?" Sheba gave Celeste a suspicious look.

"It's important," Celeste leaned forward conspiratorially, "it's about the _Galactica_. I think that something very strange is about to happen very soon, and I need to tell him about it cause I think I know what it is."

"Tell me about it and I'll tell him for you," Sheba cocked her head and stood impatiently.

Celeste's brow furrowed, "Why are you so hostile all of the sudden?"

She tossed her hair, "just things."

"What things?" Celeste pressed.

Sheba glared, "Things I don't have to tell you about."

Celeste crossed her arms and sighed, glancing upward in a silent plea for whatever beings controlled the universe to please do something in her favor for once, "She-baa, I really need you to help me on this one. People's lives could be at stake here." She gave Sheba a serious and pleading look, "If I'm right, something's wrong, and your dad should know about it."

"Of course something's wrong!" Sheba laughed hollowly, "Look around!" she gestured to the shuttles being loaded with relief supplies, "Everything's wrong!"

"Exactly, now will you listen?" Celeste grabbed Sheba's shoulders lightly, "It wasn't supposed to happen! Somewhere else, in some other time, but not here and not now! Not to us! To a different us!"

"You're not making any sense," Sheba shook Celeste off of her.

Celeste bit her lip and agreed, "No, I guess I'm not. All I know is that somehow the 'equipment testing' must have triggered a kind of shifting between parallel ….oh, look, just get me a few centons with your father. I'll try to explain it better to him, and maybe something can be done about all of this felgercarb."

"Celeste," Sheba gave her round and nervous eyes, "You're crazy. It's just your imagination. You're not thinking realistically. Just…leave me alone."

"But…"Celeste started.

"Please!" Sheba turned and dashed to her shuttle.

Celeste dropped her hands to her sides, looking again at the ceiling in exasperation, "See, _this_ is why I end up taking things into my own hands. No one else is interested!"

She thought back to her dream. It had made sense then and immediately after waking up.

_Now that I think about it, it does sound crazy. _She sighed, _maybe it's just my mind trying desperately to hope. _

"Hey, Celeste," Jolly appeared behind her, "I didn't know you'd been assigned to a shuttle."

Celeste jumped a little, "Uh, hi Jolly, no I haven't actually. I was just looking for…well, never mind."

Jolly looked at her awkwardly, "I've been meaning to apologize about that argument…"

"Ah, it's okay," Celeste breathed a small ironic snort, "That got overshadowed, anyway."

"Yeah," Jolly looked down, "but I've still been wanting to tell you. I didn't really mean all those things I said."

"Neither did I," Celeste replied, trying to remember what it was that she had said. All she really remembered was being very upset, then being more upset, "Well, some of them anyway. The bad ones."

"So we're okay then?" Jolly gave her an uncertain look.

"Sure." Celeste nodded.

Jolly smiled back, "Am I glad to hear that!"

"So am I," She smiled and started to walk back toward the turbolift.

"Where are you going?" Jolly called to her.

"To find something I lost," Celeste called back.

Commander Cain strode onto the bridge of his battlestar, "Colonel, report!"

His colonel, a man named Jaelon, stepped forward, "Relief efforts are continuing successfully, patrols are reporting no Cylon activity, Sir."

"Of course not." Cain nodded, "Those golmonging tin heads are gonna think twice now before attacking us. Anything else?"

"No Sir. Well, one of the _Galactica_ lieutenants did disrupt the bridge about a centar ago, looking for you."

Cain narrowed his eyes, "Do you know which one?"

Jaelon nodded, "The blonde one, Lt. Celeste I think it is. She said she had something important to tell you."

"Thank you, Colonel, return to your duties." Cain stood on the central platform of the bridge for a few moments. Satisfied that everything was running smoothly and somewhat disappointed that he had no reason to start shouting orders, Cain started to head back to the hallway.

"Sir! We're picking something up on long range sensors!" one of the bridge officers suddenly announced.

Cain was back on the bridge in a split-micron, "What is it?"

"Unknown, Sir, but it appears to be a ship. It just came out of nowhere!"

The commander gazed out the front viewglass, then turned his attention back to the scanner screen, "Identify it."

"It's…another battlestar, Sir." The officer sat back in his chair, blinking at the readout, "But how is that possible?"

"Never mind that," Cain said quickly, "It's got to be a Cylon trick. Launch squadrons, blow it out of the sky."

"What if it _is_ a battlestar?" Colonel Jaelin asked.

Cain turned his head sharply, "Impossible. And if it was another battlestar, they would have hailed us by now."

"Incoming message on battle frequency one!" the operations officer announced.

Cain turned to the ops console, regarding the comm. monitor with suspicion, "Let's see it."

_ The face that appeared on the screen nearly made him choke._


	10. Chapter 10

"Lt. Celeste!"

She turned to see a bridge officer dashing toward her. Puzzled, she stopped, "That's me…what's going on?"

"The commander requests that you proceed immediately to the bridge." The officer told her, "And I'm to escort you."

"I see," Celeste's heart started beating very quickly. _Frack! I was right! _"Well, lead on."

She followed the officer to the bridge, noticing the shocked silence hovering over the normal bridge operation noise.

"What seems to be the trouble, Commander?" Celeste asked cockily.

Cain glanced up at her, seeming surprised that she was standing there, even though he had ordered her to be, "It's not trouble," he corrected, "but come and take a look."

She raised her eyebrows, but she strolled up to the ops station. What she saw on the comm. screen made her entire confident façade melt immediately.

"What the frack is going on?" she demanded.

Cain looked from the screen to the lieutenant standing next to him, "That's what I wanted you to tell me," he informed her, "you seemed to be in a big hurry to tell me something before."

"I wasn't expecting…" Celeste blinked at the woman in the commander uniform on the screen.

"Commander Cain! What sort of trick is this?" the woman demanded.

Celeste glared at the woman, "Who in Hades are you?"

"I'm Commander Celeste of the Battlestar _Galactica_! Who are you?"

"Look, lady," Celeste crossed her arms, "I don't know what you're trying to pull, but you can't be me. For one thing, I'd never be a commander." She looked closely and saw that the woman's hair was streaked with grey and her face showed some aging.

Commander Celeste blinked, "Well _you_ can't be _me_ because I'm on the _Galactica_!"

"Impossible!" Cain exclaimed, "The _Galactica _was destroyed!"

"You're one to talk, Cain," Commander Celeste shot back, "If I recall correctly, we were flying through your rubble not a secton ago."

"You're mistaken," Cain huffed, "_We_ were the ones flying through _your_ rubble! Where's Commander Adama? Why isn't he on the bridge? And what are you doing there?"

"Adama retired," Commander Celeste said dryly.

Lt. Celeste recovered from her shock, "Hey, it wasn't supposed to happen this way!"

"What wasn't?" Cain demanded.

Commander Celeste shook her head, "Cain, for a dead guy, you sure ask a lot of questions. Though I've got to admit, I would love to know exactly why I'm flying toward a ghost ship."

Lt. Celeste nodded, "I bet you would. It's kind of complicated, but I have a theory…look, why don't we all discuss this over ambrosia?"

"On the _Galactica_?" Commander Celeste asked.

"Absolutely not!" Cain stomped, "I will not be fooled, if this is some sort of Cylon trick."

"I was thinking the same thing about the _Pegasus_," Commander Celeste shook her head. She smiled at Lt. Celeste, "But if I can't trust myself, who can I trust? I'll be over there in three centares."

"We'll send a squadron to escort you in," Cain said gruffly, "So don't try anything or they'll blast you into oblivion."

"And if you try to attack us," Celeste folded her arms, "I'll have _my_ squadron blow your pilots into space dust."

"Fair enough, we'll meet here in three centares." Cain nodded.

Commander Celeste gave one more suspicious look to her other self and grinned a bit darkly, "I look forward to it. _Galactica_ out."

"_Pegasus _out," Cain said quickly before the transmission ended.

Celeste, Cain, and many of Cain's warriors, were there to meet the shuttle as it landed. An entire squadron of fighters landed alongside it, and the pilots immediately began exiting their craft. The shuttle door opened and several warriors and security personnel came out, followed by Commander Celeste.

Lt. Celeste blinked in disbelief. Seeing her older self on a screen was one thing, actually greeting herself as she exited a shuttle was just bizarre.

Commander Celeste glanced around at all of the warriors, then her gaze fell on the welcoming committee. She nearly tripped down the stairs.

Lt. Celeste recognized the well-hidden expression of sadness and shock in the commander's eyes as she descended and strode toward them with the air of confidence. Commander Celeste stopped a few feet from Cain and Celeste. She looked them over with some measure of disbelief.

"Commander Cain, we thought we'd seen the last of you." Commander Celeste nodded toward him. She narrowed her eyes at Lt. Celeste, "And I thought I'd seen the last of you yahrens ago. Kobal, was I ever that young?"

Up close, Lt. Celeste could see that her older self was indeed quite a bit older, thirty yahrens at least. She noted with satisfaction that even with age, she was still pretty good-looking, "Well I certainly wasn't expecting to see you, not for a while at least." Then it was her turn for recognition as the Viper pilots approached.

"Zac?" She half-grinned, then blinked, "And Boxey, too?"

"Enough with the reunions," Commander Cain broke in, "They're here for a reason, and I'd like to know what it is."

"Right," Lt. Celeste nodded, "I think you guys will want to be sitting for this."

She and herself followed Cain as the entourage headed for the _Pegasus_' conference room.

_And I thought my life was already weird, _Lt. Celeste thought, _but it just keeps getting weirder!_

"Okay, so I have this theory that seems to be proving itself correct," Lt. Celeste gave her older self a meaningful glance. They were all seated in the conference room, and the lieutenant formerly of the _Galactica_ had their complete attention.

"Go on," Cain nodded.

Lt. Celeste grinned ironically at her other self, and then turned to Cain, "The theory is, somehow your super-weapon tore a hole in space. A…rift if you will." She gestured with her hands, "The problem is, the rift goes right through several…realities." She looked around, but no one was giving her blank looks, so she continued, "Not knowing what the weapon actually does, I have no idea how this happened. What I do know, is that wherever the rift appears in the other realities, it's near either the _Pegasus_ or the _Galactica_ in that reality, which means it's likely one or the other battlestar will end up flying right into it. Because the _Pegasus_ is the point of origin, this is where they'll end up."

"So there could be more of us arriving." Commander Celeste concluded.

"Most likely," Lt. Celeste nodded.

Commander Cain gave them both a stern look, "We'll have to keep explaining this to each new ship. I won't stand for this."

"Not to mention the more ships go through, the bigger the rift gets." Celeste added.

"How do we fix it?" Commander Celeste asked.

Lt. Celeste shrugged, "As I said, it's just a theory. I'm definitely no expert. The knowledge of the universe that got squished into my head seems to be mostly gone."

"You too?" Commander Celeste asked, "Youch."

"It seems your theory's accurate enough," Cain grunted, "There's got to be a solution somewhere."

"It would help," Lt. Celeste replied, "if I knew what the weapon actually did."

"That's classified." Cain said quickly.

Commander Celeste joined Lt. Celeste in giving him disapproving stares. Commander Celeste crossed her arms, "Cain, no disrespect intended, but this has got to be fixed, and I don't know about you but I'd love to go back to my own reality."

Cain glared, "That, Commander, is really not my concern. I've got my own crew to think of."

Lt. Celeste winced, "Then I'd suggest you let us in on the secret, because I didn't tell you the really freaky part. I think that we're all in some sort of middle-reality…the place the Lords of Kobal called 'limbosh' in the ancient texts. And if we don't get out of here before too long, we won't ever be able to."

"Oh that's just great!" Commander Celeste flopped back in her chair, making it creak, "Are you saying I could get stuck with him for the rest of my life?" She gestured to Commander Cain.

"I've got to admit, Commander," Cain scowled, "I don't relish the idea myself."

"The only thing we've got going for us at the moment, is that if we are in limbosh, none of us can die," Celeste replied, "At least, that's assuming the texts were accurate."

"Ohh felgercarb," Commander Celeste sighed, "Not just the rest of my life, then. Eternally trapped with who-knows-how-many _Galactica_s and _Pegasus_es. Who knows how many Commander Cains…"

"All right," Commander Cain relented, "The weapon is designed to amplify ultrasonic waves and vibrate those Cylon monstrosities to pieces. Before we tested it, the scientists warned that the wave might gather strength as it traveled across space. However they also said that unless it struck another power source within a secton, it would be harmless."

"'Another power source' in this case being…?" Commander Celeste asked.

"The _Galactica_, in our reality," Lt. Celeste said slightly hoarsely.

"And in our reality," Commander Celeste concluded, "the tear in space destroyed the _Pegasus_."

Commander Cain gave Lt. Celeste a cold stare, "So you know how it works, what do we do about this?"

Commander Celeste turned expectantly to her younger counterpart.

"I'm not a scientist," Lt. Celeste shook her head, "But I think we need to find where the rip comes out here in this galaxy of nothingness. We can try flying through it, but who knows where we'd end up."

"Wouldn't we end up in our realities?" Commander Celeste asked, "I mean, I'm no expert either, but I did study cosmic theory at the Academy, and I remember something about the universe having a certain pull on what belongs in it, so it would make sense that our universes in our realities would sort themselves out."

Commander Cain looked from one Celeste to the other and nodded as if he understood perfectly, "Good, good, do it."

"Do what?" the Celestes asked in unison.

Cain stood up and waved his stick at them, "Do whatever it is you just said."

_ "Actually," Commander Celeste reasoned, "all we have to do is wait for the next battlestar to come through and mark its position."_


	11. Chapter 11

As the two Celestes left the conference room, Commander Celeste turned to Lt. Celeste, "All right, I know that look."

"What look?" Lt. Celeste blinked innocently.

"The look you've been wearing since I got here. Go ahead and ask, I know you're curious, and I suppose it's okay to tell you." Commander Celeste folded her arms and smiled.

Lt. Celeste smiled back sheepishly, "I've just been wondering what's happened to everyone in your reality. I saw that Zac and Boxey were pilots."

"Yes," Commander Celeste nodded, "Zac is captain of Blue Squadron, taking after his brother, and Boxey's trying to take after his father. They're both exceptional pilots."

Grinning, Lt. Celeste shook her head, "I'll bet they are, though I was a bit surprised that Muffit wasn't in the cockpit with Boxey."

Commander Celeste laughed, "No, but Muffit Three is back on the Galactica, looking after Nausicaa and the baby."

"Nausicaa and Boxey?" Celeste raised her eyebrows, "Kobal."

Commander Celeste coughed, "Yeah, unfortunately they named their kid Celeste."

"Uh oh!" Lt. Celeste chuckled, "That's asking for trouble."

"I thought so, too," Commander Celeste laughed, "Anyway, let's see…Adama and Tigh retired of course, and it was about time. Apollo and I never thought they'd get off the bridge. Course, we never thought I'd get on it."

"You and Apollo got sealed?" Lt. Celeste asked, but not surprised.

"Yep," Commander Celeste replied, "And Zac and Rigel, Boomer and Qasha…who else…oh, Jolly and some girl named Theya."

"What about Starbuck? Did he ever settle down with someone?"

Commander Celeste shook her head, "Nope, same old Starbuck! Athena and a bridge officer…Omega if I remember right…have been going out for yahrens, but she won't say yes. I think she's still in love with Starbuck. Then Cassiopeia's still waiting as well."

"Oh, Starbuck, Starbuck, Starbuck," Celeste shook her head, "I imagine he'd probably have done the same in my reality…" she trailed off.

Commander Celeste changed the subject, seeing the other Celeste's mood darken again, "Apollo's teaching Advanced Flight on the Academy ship, Starbuck's taken over Red squadron as the leader since Ajax made it to Colonel. Jolly's now flying the _Rising Star_ and overseeing several of the chancery rooms…" She could see Lt. Celeste's interest fading as the younger Celeste got lost in memories of her own reality, "Lieutenant? Maybe you should get some rest."

"Yeah," Lt. Celeste nodded, "I do feel kinda tired. But thanks for the chat."

Commander Celeste saluted, "No problem, take care of yourself." She smiled, "I'll be seeing you."

Lt. Celeste tried to smile back, "Back at ya."

"Commander, there's another battlestar on the scope!" Colonel Jaelon announced as Cain stepped back onto the bridge. He'd just seen Commander Celeste off in her shuttle, and was ready for some action after all that sitting.

"Mark its position and get them on comm.!"

Cain got through explaining the situation to the other _Pegasus_ (under the command of Commander Bojay) just in time for a new _Pegasus_ to appear.

"Get Lt. Celeste up here!" Cain ordered, trying to get a report typed up that he could start transmitting as soon as each battlestar appeared. "And send reports to the fleet ships, they're starting to ask what's going on!"

"Yes sir!"

By the time Celeste reached the bridge, there were 5 new _Pegasus_es and 3 _Galactica_s. She blinked at the scanner screen; "I don't think there's been this many battlestars in one place since the battle of Cimtar."

"How very historic," Colonel Jaelon remarked sarcastically, "but what do we do about it?"

"Transmit a message to all ships," Commander Cain ordered, "Send them the coordinates and instruct them to fly into it."

"They're going to have to go one at a time," Celeste warned.

"Put that in as well," Cain told the comm. officer.

Celeste looked out the front viewglass at the several battlestars in front of the _Pegasus_. She couldn't help wondering how many of them had Apollos and Starbucks.

_I miss them, _she thought, _I wish I could go find some of them and talk to them. Just once more. There's no guarantee that our _Galactica_ will come back. If it was used as the power source for the blast, it probably exploded in our reality. But I can't give up hope. They could be out there, right now, somewhere. _

"Lieutenant!" Cain shouted. Celeste hadn't heard him the first times. She jerked up and looked at him.

Cain gave her a sharp glare, "You're here to advise, not daydream!"

"And?" Celeste asked.

Cain blinked, "Look at the scanner, Lieutenant!"

She looked. She saw a Cylon basestar emerging from the same spot as the battlestars.

"Frack!" She blinked at it.

A bridge officer turned around, "Base ship is firing on one of the _Pegasus_es, Sir! She's taking heavy damage, casualties reported."

"I thought you said we couldn't die!" Cain rounded on Celeste, "You said that the ancient lords of Kobal said that."

"Well, look where that got them," Celeste replied uncertainly.

Cain turned around, "Order all ships to open fire!"

The battlestars released a volley of laser fire, making short work of the base ship.

Celeste winced, "Hope that doesn't come back to haunt us."

"What do you mean?" Cain demanded.

Celeste gave him an honest stare, "I mean, that we don't really know anything about where we are, or what will happen when we try to go back to our dimension."

"Yes," Cain looked back at his bridge, "Why haven't we started sending ships back through?"

"We have, Sir," an officer replied, "but more are coming out each centon."

Celeste closed her eyes, "I was afraid of that! The hole's gotten bigger. It's sucking more battlestars in. And it's only going to get worse."

Cain made a decision, "We're going to all have to fly through at once, leaving a signal beacon for any that fly in while we're flying out."

"That's a crazy plan," Celeste said matter-of-factly, "I like it. Except that I think we also have to close the door behind us."

Cain leaned down, "And how do you propose we do that?"

Celeste bit her lip, "Same way we opened it. Fire the weapon, hit a power source, close the rift in space."

"Good, carry out the plan," Cain nodded approvingly.

"Two problems," Celeste pointed out, "One, we would have to stay behind to fire the weapon, and two, we would have to use the _Pegasus_ itself as the power source to make the wave strong enough. We'd explode."

"Send the civilian fleet through then," Cain ordered, "and all the battlestars next."

Celeste glanced down as she realized what he was planning, but looked back up and gazed out the viewglass at the battlestars disappearing into space. _Hades halls, Erebus was right all along. This isn't one of the realities where I didn't die young. But there are other Celestes that can be saved. Other battlestars. Other Starbucks and Apollos. There's not much for me in my reality, but they can go on and live their lives._

She watched as several new battlestars appeared, then turned around and disappeared again, clearly receiving the message that Cain had broadcast.

_Have good lives, _she thought sincerely.

Just then, her face appeared on the comm. screen. It was Commander Celeste.

"Cain, what do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

Cain stood straight and tall as he answered her, "We caused the problem, and we are going to fix it."

Commander Celeste shook her head, "Do you even know how?"

"Your counterpart has provided the solution," Cain replied evenly.

The commander version of Celeste nodded slowly, and Lt. Celeste knew the other woman had worked it out as well.

"Good luck, Cain," Commander Celeste said gravely, "My prayers are with you and your crew."

Lt. Celeste stepped up, "Commander."

Commander Celeste looked her younger self in the eyes, "Lieutenant, I'm sorry."

"Ah," Lt. Celeste waved her hand, "how you die doesn't really matter."

Commander Celeste's mouth twitched and her eyes opened a little in recognition. "No," She nodded again and half-smiled, "It's what you did with your second chances. And you've done well, Lieutenant. I know that for a fact."

"Pssh," Lt. Celeste realized that this version of herself probably had a very similar life to her own. She grinned back, "Be seeing you."

Commander Celeste smiled, "In all my memories."

_ The commander's face disappeared as the screen went black, and the final _Galactica_ flew through the rift._


	12. Chapter 12

"Celeste?" Sheba approached the other woman as she walked down the hall.

Celeste blinked out of her deep thoughts, "Uh, hi."

Sheba looked down and took a deep breath, then looked up, "My squadron's going through the hole as protection for the fleet till they find a suitable planet to live on. I was wondering…I mean, we've got a full squadron but you're welcome to join us."

"Thanks for the offer," Celeste shook her head, "But there's really nothing back there for me. Good luck with the mission though." She started to walk on.

"Celeste," Sheba called, "wait…I thought you should know. You were right about the hole in space. I still think you're crazy, but you're right and crazy."

Celeste smiled, "I try."

"so, are we friends?" Sheba asked.

"Us?" Celeste laughed, "Never, Sheba, never!"

Sheba laughed too, then looked down again, "I think Apollo would have been proud of you."

"Yeah," Celeste agreed softly.

"And," Sheba gave Celeste a sad and sincere look, "and I'm glad that…that he had you. Because I know he did."

"I'm glad I had him," Celeste replied slowly.

Sheba nodded and sniffed, "Oh, here I go again." She smiled sadly and wiped her eyes. She looked at Celeste, "I'll never forget you!"

"That's comforting to know," Celeste showed her a half grin.

Sheba nodded, "Well, I've got to go. Take care, okay?"

"You too, go save the human race." Celeste clapped her hand on Sheba's shoulder and the two parted ways.

"I thought we might find you here," Boomer climbed up to a broken-down Viper in the _Pegasus_ maintenance bay, followed by Jolly. Celeste was in the Viper's cockpit.

The woman pilot stroked the metal of the Viper, "Always thought I'd go out flying one of these things."

"You could have gone with Sheba's squadron," Boomer reminded her, "They'll have a tough job defending the fleet."

Celeste shook her head, "You know what? I'm not sure I'd want to live in our reality anymore."

"I don't blame you," Jolly sighed, "They don't have much of a chance without the _Galactica, _or even the _Pegasus _there for protection."

Celeste shrugged, "And who knows if they even made it through the hole?"

Boomer patted her shoulder, "Well, Jolly and I have decided to stick around for the fireworks."

"Together to the end," Celeste grinned lopsidedly, "you know, I've been thinking a lot about the end lately. People always say that you discover all your regrets right before you die. But," Celeste looked down at the Viper controls, "lately I've been thinking about all the things I don't regret. It all just sort of…makes sense now. Like everything in my life actually worked together in a strange sort of twisted weaving way."

"I know what you mean," Boomer nodded.

Celeste sighed, "I just wish I'd been able to say goodbye to…" her gaze turned to Boomer, "Do you think they're out there somewhere?"

"Maybe," Boomer replied, "It's possible they were some of the ones we helped save."

Celeste smiled, "I can't help hoping they were."

Nodding, Boomer climbed onto the Viper. Jolly joined him.

The battlestar around them started to rumble.

Celeste put out her hand.

"See you guys on the other side," she grinned somewhat nervously but with resignation. Boomer and Jolly joined her in a three-way handshake.

"To the other side," Boomer said.

The _Pegasus_ shook violently, the vibrating increasing to a crescendo. There was a bang, a bright fireball, and all was suddenly quiet.

_Then limbosh was empty._


	13. Chapter 13

_Oh great, I'm dead again. _

"Celeste? Celeste!" Boomer's voice floated to her.

_Poor Boomer, he's dead too._

"I don't think she can hear us!" Jolly's voice cried.

_Jolly too, well at least we're all dead together. _

"I think you're right, Jolly. She took a pretty bad knock."

_Knock? Hello, Boomer, we were on an exploding battlestar!_

"What do you think happened?" Jolly asked, "Do you think the _Galactica_'s still there? Can we fly back to it?"

_Jolly, the _Galactica_'s gone! We're all just floating in deadness! _

Boomer's voice replied, "Her Viper seems to still be in good shape, if she would just wake up, we could try to fly back."

_You have a point, it's hard to fly when you're dead. Hard to wake up, too._

"She'd better wake up fast!" Jolly said loudly, "I'm picking up ships on my scanner, computer identifies as Cylon!"

_Cylons? Scanners? Wait…this is sounding suspiciously like life and suspiciously unlike death. I wonder if I still have eyes to open._

"Urngh," Celeste grunted.

"Celeste?" Boomer's concerned voice asked.

"Yeah, Boomer, I'm here," Celeste shook her head, opening her still-existing eyes and finding herself flying along in a very real and unsuspicious Viper. She blinked, "Agh, why does dying always give me a headache?"

"What?" Jolly asked.

Boomer chuckled, "Good to hear your voice, Lieutenant. Let's take care of these can-heads and go home."

"Home?" Celeste asked, "You mean the _Pegasus_?"

"The _Pegasus_?" Jolly asked, "The _Pegasus_ exploded."

Celeste glanced over at Boomer's Viper, "That's what I thought! We were all sitting there, on a Viper, exploding!"

It occurred to her that in order for her to be alive and _flying_ a Viper, the exploding part must not have happened.

"Well, maybe not exploding…" She said thoughtfully, "And we must have been _in_ Vipers, not _on_ one. But that would have made the handshake hard."

"I remember that, too," Jolly added, "We were sitting on one Viper. We exploded, and now here we are."

Boomer's voice replied, "Wherever we might have been a few moments ago, right now we're about to be in the middle of a Cylon patrol."

_ Celeste grinned. Being dead was too confusing. Cylons, she could deal with._

The three Viper pilots approached the _Galactica_'s landing bay.

"This is recon patrol one, requesting permission to land," Boomer said.

"Boomer? Is that you?" Athena's voice sounded astonished. She cleared her throat, "I mean, recon patrol, you have clearance to land!"

"What do you think that was about?" Jolly asked.

Boomer started his landing run, "I guess we're about to find out."

Celeste flew behind Boomer, now even more perplexed. The _Galactica_ was clearly real. The Vipers they were sitting in were real. So it would be a logical assumption that the whole thing had been some sort of wild nightmare. However Athena sounded surprised that they were there, when she shouldn't be if they'd only been gone a few centares. And Boomer and Jolly seemed to have had the same nightmare.

The landing bay filled up with people as soon as the trio had landed. A slim dark figure practically flew across the floor into Boomer's arms, the action almost knocking him over. Jolly was greeted by his drinking buddies with much back-slapping and teasing. Celeste watched Jolly and his pals head off to the turbolift and the normally reserved Terran woman smothering Boomer with kisses.

"What in Kobal's name is going on here?" Boomer cried, trying to walk while Qasha attached herself to his arm.

Celeste watched a familiar pair dashing up to them. It was Apollo and Starbuck, carrying helmets and clearly interrupted on their way to patrol duty.

Apollo stared with a shocked look on his face.

"Hey Apollo!" Celeste waved at him, "miss me?"

"Apollo! Starbuck!" Boomer cried, "boy is it good to see you!"

Apollo dashed over, "When we didn't hear from you three sentons ago, we thought we'd lost you guys." He stopped in front of Celeste, giving her a look that was surprised and relieved and confused all at once.

Celeste just grinned, "Again? Come on, you should know by now that you can't get rid of me." She tried not to let her own confusion show, but things were getting weirder and weirder. _Okay, did I or did I not die? Cause I'd be very willing to believe this is heaven…_She wiped at her eye, hoping Apollo hadn't seen the tear that had almost escaped.

Apollo had, and he smiled, "Come here," He held his arms open and Celeste fell into them, her casual manner finally just melting.

"I thought I'd lost you, too," she whispered to him, hugging him tightly.

"Ahem."

Celeste looked up, "Starbuck!"

Starbuck gave her a mock disappointed look, "Don't I get one too?"

Celeste chuckled and gave Apollo's lips a quick kiss, much to his surprise, "Will you hold that thought for a moment?" She went to her brother and gave him a squeeze.

Starbuck hugged her and ruffled her hair, "Glad you made it back, kid."

Smoothing her hair out, Celeste jingled her pocket meaningfully, "Likewise!"

"Yeah, about that," Starbuck gave her a smug look, "I've finally figured out how to beat you at Pyramid."

"Really," Celeste crossed her arms, but was unable to hide her smile.

Starbuck nodded, "Mmhmm, it's a system that can't fail!"

"Wanna test it out?" Celeste challenged.

"Sure," Starbuck grinned, "The way to beat you is…don't play with you!"

Celeste rolled her eyes in thought, "Hmm, yeah, that's pretty effective."

Grinning confidently, Starbuck nodded.

"However," Celeste added, taking out her cubit bag, pouring some out, and fingering them, "The question is, can the great and mighty Starbuck resist a challenge?"

Starbuck's self-assured smirk disappeared.

Boomer and Apollo laughed at Starbuck's expense as he stood there trying to think of a clever retort.

"Ah," Starbuck said finally, "well I guess you've got me on that one!"

"Later then," Celeste smiled at Starbuck, her face showing for only a micron how much she'd missed him. He caught it and smiled back.

"Come on," Boomer managed to escape Qasha and clapped his hands on Apollo and Starbuck's shoulders, "I'll buy you guys a drink."

Boomer led the way, with Qasha reattaching herself to his arm. Starbuck followed very willingly at the prospect of drinks. Celeste and Apollo fell in behind them.

_Kobal, _Celeste thought, noticing Apollo giving her a wink, _it's as if it's all gone back to normal._


	14. Chapter 14

Celeste found herself seated on one of the couches in the officer's club, near her friends' table. Regardless of whether or not the violent senton at the _Pegasus_' officer's club had actually happened, she had a hard time sitting at any of the tables. Only half-listening to the conversation around her, Celeste looked around and marveled at the fact that she was indeed on the _Galactica_, sitting with her friends, and drinking the same weak ambrosia with not a single _Pegasus_ officer in sight.

Boomer had been telling a shortened version of their adventure, "So anyway, there we were, in the _Pegasus_' maintenance bay…"

"Exploding," Jolly added.

"Yeah," Boomer nodded, "We exploded, and found ourselves floating in space, sitting in our Vipers as if nothing had happened."

Apollo shook his head, "That's incredible. The entire time, we were completely unaware. You guys dropped off our scope and didn't report back. Three sentons went by…"

"But here you are!" Starbuck declared.

Celeste looked thoughtful; "You know how we learned in the Academy that the universe had a pull on the things that belonged in it?"

Everyone nodded.

Celeste continued, "It's possible that when everyone went back through the hole, they returned to their reality just the way it was supposed to have been."

"Wouldn't that mean that the _Pegasus_ is still out there?" Jolly asked.

Celeste shrugged, "I don't know. I can't help thinking that this has something to do with…" she trailed off.

"With what?" Apollo asked.

"Well," Celeste looked sideways, "when I first met Erebus, he showed me what the fleet would look like if it was destroyed. He was trying to make a point that if I didn't join him, that's what would happen. And…that's what it looked like when we were flying through the rubble."

"But Erebus is gone," Starbuck stated, then gave his sister a wary look, "right?"

"Yes," Celeste confirmed, "He is definitely gone. But some of the mess he made isn't. Some of the mess…he and I made…"

"That wasn't your fault," Apollo told her.

"No," Celeste shook her head, "I know that. I'm just saying, we made some things happen that shouldn't have. Maybe the _Pegasus _really _was_ a ghost ship, brought back by something Erebus did, and when it exploded in limbosh, it set everything right again."

"How do you explain the three sentons we were missing?" Boomer asked.

Celeste shrugged again, "Probably had something to do with relativity, but that was a study class I was…preoccupied in."

Her guilty expression caused chuckles all around.

"Well, however it happened," Apollo smiled, "I'm glad everyone's back where they should be."

Boomer nodded, "And no matter what happens next, we're in it together."

"To what happens next!" Celeste raised her mug.

The others joined in the toast, and everyone began talking again, asking about the _Pegasus_ and what had happened in the past three sentons.

"Celeste?"

She looked up, unaware that Apollo had joined her on the sofa, "Hey,"

He gave her a questioning look, "So what was that thought you wanted me to hold?"

"Huh?" Celeste's brain went blank at one look at Apollo's blue eyes staring into hers.

"Back in the landing bay."

"Ohh," she grinned, "that thought."

Apollo smiled knowingly, "Want to take a walk?"

Her heart thudding, Celeste stood up and followed him out, ignoring the good-natured ribbing coming from the tables. She glanced back and saw Starbuck give her a wink and surreptitious thumbs-up. She rolled her eyes at him and winked back.

She and Apollo ended up strolling to the observation lounge. Celeste couldn't help remembering when she'd looked out of that same room and seen a Cylon ship ready to attack. That senton seemed so long ago…

Apollo took her hand, bringing her back to the present. He looked at her questioningly, as though asking her if it was all right. Celeste squeezed his hand in return, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Looks like we've got the place to ourselves." He led her to one of the couches looking out at the stars, and they sat down.

"You know," Celeste gazed out the viewglass, "I think the other Celeste was right. I want this second chance to be a good one."

"I have the feeling it will be," Apollo replied.

Celeste smiled a little, "Yeah. Hey, do you think…nah."

"What?"

"Well," Celeste hesitated, "do you think it's possible that some of the realities weren't actually other realities, but were different time periods of this one?"

"Anything's possible," Apollo shrugged, "You did say the commander version of you was older. Some of the realities had to be at least parallel to our time."

Celeste half grinned thoughtfully, "Interesting…"

"Now," Apollo turned to smile at her, "I get the feeling this wasn't the only thing you wanted to talk about?"

Celeste gazed into his eyes and found herself stuck staring into them, "Yeah." _I'd forgotten how nervous he makes me feel. Good kinda nervous though._

Apollo looked like he was about to laugh, "Care to tell me what it is?"

Celeste giggled. _Wow. I'm giggling. I've been around Sheba too much! _She grinned at him, "Do you really really want to know?"

He gave her an amused and suspicious look, "Do I?"

"You do."

Now Apollo did laugh, "Then tell me!"

"Well," Celeste looked at her hands, "For however many sectons I was on the _Pegasus_, I was really thinking about what was missing in my life. I'd thought that flying Vipers _was_ my life, but the whole time I was there, I didn't miss it as much as I thought I would."

Apollo nodded, his face not showing what he was thinking.

"I figured out," Celeste continued, "that there are things I have to have to live, and things I can live without if I have to. And the truth is, when I had the choice to spend the rest of my life flying vipers, or to go down with the _Pegasus_, I chose the latter. And I got to thinking, there had to be a reason for that. And I think," she hesitated, "I think that it's because I didn't want to spend the rest of my life without my family."

Apollo nodded solemnly.

Celeste nodded and bit her lip, "The truth is, as much as I missed Starbuck and Boxey and everyone, it was you that…you were constantly on my mind."

_Okay, there. I said it. What's he going to do about it?_

Apollo nodded solemnly again, and Celeste wished he'd stop nodding solemnly and get around to saying something.

She gave his eyes a steady gaze, "I don't ever want to be without you again, Apollo. I'll change squadrons if the whole chain-of-command thing is a problem, or stop flying altogether, but…"

_Oh no, now I'm blushing! Agh! Shut up, Celeste!_

"Hey," Apollo tilted her head up, though Celeste hadn't even realized it was down. He looked her in the eye seriously, "Don't even think about hanging up your helmet. The fleet needs all the good pilots it can get, and you're one of the best. It would be selfish of me if I let you stop on my account, and selfish of you to deprive us of your talent."

Celeste turned her head to look at nothing, "well…I guess if you put it that way…"

"I'm flattered that you'd give up flying for me," Apollo admitted, "but you were born to fly, and I need you in my squadron." He smiled, "I'm not making it an order, since you have a habit of doing exactly the opposite…"

Celeste chuckled, "I'm going to try to do better at obeying orders, Captain."

"I know you will," Apollo grinned, "I can see you've changed. You're not the same person I picked up on Vaga, but I don't love you any less than the day we met."

_Same here, Apollo, same here. _

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you," now Apollo looked down, "I was wondering if you'd call me something other than 'captain'."

"You mean…sometime soon?" Celeste asked.

Apollo nodded and looked at her again, "Would you consider it?"

Grinning, Celeste suddenly reached around his head and pulled his face to hers, kissing for all she was worth.

After a moment of recovering from his surprise, Apollo reached around her and held her close, kissing back.

When they finally sat back again, Apollo grinned, "I'll take that as a yes?"

"You bet your boot buckles!" Celeste laughed and hugged him tightly. She looked up into his handsome face as he gazed down at her with love in his eyes. _Yup, I was right. _She smiled and kissed him again.

_I did die, and I found heaven._


End file.
